Re: Approaching Ransome (was Enid Blyton beats AR hands down)


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Posted by Jock on December 22, 2005 at 19:44:01 from 84.64.131.122 user Jock.

In Reply to: Re: Approaching Ransome (was Enid Blyton beats AR hands down) posted by Peter H on December 22, 2005 at 18:42:44:

You are certainly right, especially from a legal point of view, because you can't 'steal' ideas. But, I was using 'steal' in a looser sense meaning 'incorporates ideas derived from'.

I believe that Blyton thought that the 'children camping on an island without adults' formula was a winner and that, if AR didn't want to reuse it after his success with SA, she wouldn't have any scruples about milking it for what it was worth. She kept, but dumbed down, the sailing, kept the rocky approach to the island and leading marks, and the rebellious Nancyish figure. Too many hits to be a pure coincidence. Anyway Blyton didn't have much time to be original she was writing too many books!

To Blyton's credit there are some original touches. She put her island in the middle of the sea and added ruined castles, secret tunnels and disused narrow gauge industrial railways - all part of the real geography within a 5 mile radius of where she lived. Georgina, although a monster, is to some extent a more believable figure than Nancy. 'George' is exactly like her father, whereas with Nancy it's difficult to see how her character could have developed in the way it did without the presence of a father.


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